The Wrong Universe
by Creativity17
Summary: Three friends from the real world, Noel, Kloe, and Arman, each receive a mysterious email that teleports them into The Prince of Tennis. They must piece together how things work in the anime universe. Will Arman finally like The Prince of Tennis? And is a third-party involved in this, too? Not to mention how Noel's fanfictions and theories seem to somehow apply to what happens.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hello there! Here is my first fanfiction that is longer than a One-Shot. Please Review! Suggestions are welcomed. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy...**

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters._

* * *

**Note: the first Prince of Tennis character (Ryoma) will appear in Chapter 3.**

* * *

Prologue

**Arman**

Gazing at his school iPad screen, Arman scrolled through the "One Piece" manga he was reading. When he reached a certain panel, his eyebrows lifted. In it, "Red-Haired" Shanks was again battling Doflamingo to the death, but that did not surprise him. What did make him intrigued was the rectangular Gmail notification that popped down. It did not give the sender's email address and had no subject, nor did it show any body text. Curious, Arman tapped the notification with his index finger and scanned the email. Just like the notification, no sender or subject. But, there was an image-like thing on the email that looked a little blurry. The image had only two words on it: Click Here. There was also a second connecting email with the same words.

Arman reached out… and pulled his finger back. It was probably a spam email or a link that would give his iPad a virus. Now that he thought about it, though, his friend Noel was always trying to get him to read or watch the anime "The Prince of Tennis" and constantly sent him links that read "Click Here". If anything, this was probably one of her schemes, to trick him into getting into the manga series. No way was he going to fall into her trap. But, he admitted to himself, Noel had shed light on his now favorite anime, "Kenja no Mago". She had also endured much torture in the countless times when he accused her of bullying him. Arman sighed. He owed Noel.

The least he could do was click it. Reluctantly, he reached out and touched the image. The iPad screen loaded onto a website and displayed the thirty-fourth chapter of "The Prince of Tennis". So Noel had sent the email. Thirty-fourth chapter, though? Must have been a major mistake on her part. Or some sort of a joke. The chapter itself showed a black and white manga, but Arman could tell that it was well drawn. If it was not about tennis and had some fantasy in it, he figured he might enjoy it. Unfortunately, it was the tennis manga that Noel had been nagging him to read. But why did it have no sender? Arman wondered.

Well, at least he had clicked on the picture and could claim to Noel that he 'read' it. Now it was time to finish his nightly "One Piece" reading. He did not need to click the second email, which was probably another anime link. With only a slight moment's hesitation, Arman exited the tab and resumed the Japanese comic. Thirty minutes later, he went to sleep. Little did he know, his school iPad, which rested on his desk, had turned back on. On its own, the screen opened the Gmail app and the website that the image had led to. Finally, the screen changed into a blank white. It stayed like that for a few seconds, then something appeared on the white. It read:

𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗...

𝟷%

**Kloe**

Kloe was not having the best morning. The night before had been pretty good; someone had sent her email the link to the thirty-fourth chapter of a Japanese manga called "The Prince of Tennis", and she spent two hours reading the first twenty-four chapters. (Unfortunately, she did not quite make it to the thirty-fourth chapter.) Of course, she was going to read the first chapter before reading the thirty-fourth. Why would she not? The email was weird sending her the thirty-fourth chapter to a manga she had never heard of, so she figured it was just a mess up. The second link Kloe had not gotten around to click because she used up her time reading the manga, but when she got home that day, she would look at it. It was probably Arman who had sent it, she guessed. After all, he was the anime dude at Shasta Glen School. Ask him to tell you what the first thing Naruto said in episode thirty-two, and he would tell you. Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but that was the gist of it.

Anyway, the reason Kloe's morning had been so horrible was that she had woken up late to school and rushed to the bus stop and… she had forgotten her backpack. Her BACKPACK. How could you forget something as big as that? Did she not feel like something was missing? Something that probably weighed about ten pounds? A friend had paid for her bus fee, but once Kloe got to school, she went straight to the office and called her mom, who said she would bring it at break. Now Kloe had to wait for almost two hours before she could get her school stuff. She was going to have a great day. That was sarcasm, by the way, if no one noticed.

Finally, during break, she ran to the gatehouse and accepted her backpack from her mom. Thank goodness. Ms. Saepharn, her science teacher, had sent everyone in the class a google form to complete during class, but of course, Kloe did not have her iPad. So the first thing Kloe did was to open it so she could fill out the form. For a moment, she thought she saw a white background with "𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗… 𝟾𝟺%" written on it, but when she blinked, the screen was back to normal and she wondered if she had imagined it all.

Shaking her head to clear it, Kloe opened the form to fill it out when her iPad screen turned black and showed the Apple logo. In her haste to sleep, (she had stayed up reading "The Prince of Tennis"), Kloe had forgotten to charge her school electronic. Great. Just… great. Time to find someone who had a charger. Groaning, she slipped her iPad back into her backpack and zipped it shut. Yep, Kloe was having the best morning ever. That was sarcasm, by the way, if no one noticed.

**Noel**

Who was it that had sent her the link to "The Prince of Tennis" manga and the link to its twenty-first episode? Noel had to find out. She just had to. For the whole of her life before, she had always known that she was the only person besides her brother in Shasta Glen School that knew what the "Prince of Tennis" was and followed the series. Now, she learned that someone else did too, because the person had sent the link to her school email address, and she had never entered her email into a website related to Japanese manga or anime. That meant that the person who sent it knew her school email, meaning that they were at her school, so Noel could not wait to learn who it was. The only trouble that would hinder her findings was that for some reason, the email showed no sender email address.

The first link she had been curious of. When it had brought her to the comic, with growing excitement, she had gone back to the email and clicked on the second one. That had gone to episode twenty one. Someone must have known that she was a fan of "The Prince of Tennis", or they would not have sent her the link to both the anime and manga in the middle of the series. Coincidentally or not, both links brought her to the same time in the plot line. And again, no sender email address. How mysterious.

That would make it hard to locate the person, but Noel was determined to find a way and nothing would stop her dedication to "The Prince of Tennis". And maybe, once she found the sender, she would be able to gush to them about all her love for different characters and tennis moves. They could also hang out and watch some episodes, and maybe… Well, Noel would not think about now. She did not want to get ahead of herself, because what if she could not find the person? That would be horrible. She tried not to think about it.

Right now, Noel needed to focus on what she was doing; finishing her Civil Rights History project. She was in history class, and the project was due in thirty minutes. Thirty. Minutes. Reality struck Noel, and it was as if a tornado had been set off. Immediately at the awareness, Noel snapped into action. Her fingers scurried around the keyboard and paragraphs upon paragraphs of writing appeared on her google document. Seeming to blur, Noel became a whirlwind of work. Thoughts of the mysterious email faded as panic and adrenaline rushed through her veins. Hurry, hurry, hurry. Finally, half an hour later, Noel had finished her twenty-page essay, having added an additional thirteen pages to her once meek seven. Done.

Noel leaned back with a sigh of relief. Everything had been finished at last. She turned in the document online but decided that she would pick up a hard copy at the library during lunch. Clicking a button, she sent the document to a printer in the library and closed her iPad. Blue seat slid back as she stood to pack up her belongings. It took a few minutes because Noel had to maneuver her items in the backpack; she had brought her tennis racquet and hat that day so she could play at lunch. She was dressed accordingly in her dry-fit clothes and tennis shoes, also having packed a hat in her backpack with a hair band on her wrist.

Once Noel had finished stuffing the last of her history supplies in her purple pack, it was time to take the trip to the library. Maybe when she was there, she could look at some books, possibly "The Prince of Tennis". The email had reminded her of how long it had been since she read the beginning chapters of the graphic novel, and she decided that now was a good time to start again. After all, it could not hurt. "The Prince of Tennis" was Noel's number one fictional universe, and if it meant she could go there, she would cut off her arm. Actually… no. Maybe a hand. Or a finger. Okay, Noel admitted to herself, probably not that. What about a few nail clippings? Gross, never mind.

A small tan building with white pillars met her view; Noel had reached the library. She grasped the metal door handle and pushed the door open. The first stop she made was to the manga shelf, where she picked up "The Prince of Tennis" volume one. Noel ended up sitting against the shelf and reading her book. She was at the start second chapter when she remembered her main purpose for being at the library. Her Civil Rights history project. A bookmark was placed in the pages and Noel stood once again.

Zigzagging around the tables in the library, she made her way to the printer and spotted two other seventh graders waiting in front of it. One was a boy with short black hair and a grey jacket. Hands on his hips, he seemed a little impatient. Meanwhile, the other person was a skinny girl whose light brown hair waved loosely at her shoulders. She had her iPad out in one hand and looked between it and the printer. There was a cord with a portable charging battery attached to her iPad as well.

"Hi, Kloe. Hi, Arman," Noel greeted the pair and they said "hey"s back to her. She stopped next to the pair and took a quick glance at the printer. "What're you guys printing? After all, its lunch."

"I have to print out a paper for English," Kloe began, turning off her iPad, "and I didn't know it was lunch yet. I guess my class already got out so I'll have to give it to Ms. Lehman in person."

Noel made a sympathetic face. "Yeesh. What about you, Arman?"

"Gotta print something before math. You know, it's after lunch."

This statement was not just for Noel. She, Arman, and Kloe were in the same Algebra class that took place during the next block. Because what Arman was printing was for math, Noel figured that it was most likely notes for the open notes test that would occur that day. Then, feeling the backpack on her shoulders, she remembered what she had planned during lunch. Kloe and Arman usually ate in the lunch group up at the field's picnic benches, which was right next to the tennis courts.

"Hey, are you guys eating up at the field today?"

Both nodded.

"Cool, I'm playing tennis up there. I'll see you guys there, then." At the word 'tennis', Arman spotted the Japanese manga under Noel's arm. She continued, "I heard Melinda's playing badminton–"

"Wait, let me see that," Arman interrupted, reaching out and grabbed the comic. He flipped it open to Noel's bookmarked page and crowed, "Aha! I knew you sent that email!"

"Huh?" Noel looked genuinely confused. "What email?"

"What email?!" Arman pointed an accusing finger at her. "The Prince of Tennis one! But it had no sender address."

Noel opened her mouth to argue that she was not the one who sent the email and that she had received an email like that as well when Kloe cut in. "Oh! You got one too?"

"So did I!" Noel said, a little too loudly.

Others in the library turned in frustration at the trio who was disturbing their last-minute work during lunch. They all shushed them. Arman rolled his eyes at Noel as one of the librarians, a petite woman with silky black hair, made her way over to them to request silence. It did not matter to Noel anymore that she was being loud, because she just had to get her point across. She was a stubborn girl, she admitted to herself, and she would not lose an argument if she could help it. After thirty more seconds, the bickering evolved into nonsense.

"Right now, if I was to hook you up to a lie detector, I would find that you are fibbing about not sending those emails! After all, how could you 'just happen' to meet with Kloe and I the day after we got them?" Arman yelled. Kloe, whose iPad was open again, tapped his shoulder.

"Um…" she began.

"Not now, Kloe!" he whispered back sharply.

"Well, have you ever heard of something as a coincidence?" Noel retorted to his previous claim. "I just came to pick up my Civil Rights Project!" Now Kloe tapped her red dry-fit T-shirt.

"Noel, I need to tell you something," she muttered, this time more insistent than with Arman.

The Asian girl waved her off and resumed her debate with Arman, who was seething, "Just admit that you sent the email! I'm not mad about you sending it. I'm mad that you're denying it."

"Arman! Noel!" Kloe shouted. "Why is it so quiet?"

Both mouths went shut. Kloe rarely raised her voice, even if she was angry. Between Noel and Arman, she was the quiet but funny girl. So yelling, especially in the library, came as quite a surprise. The two then thought of the same thing. Kloe was right– it had been at least a minute that they had been arguing, and the librarian had not reprimanded them yet. Why had she not?

Simultaneously turning, Noel and Arman looked towards where she had been, which was where she still was. Annoyed, Kloe muttered something about no one ever noticing things as they all stared, Noel and Arman open-mouthed, around the library. Now they realized why no one had been shushing them. Students still sat at the tables, some with open laptops and clothing items strewn about the wooden surface. Others had books out to read, some library and some textbooks. Some were at the library computers, presumably working on a digital project of some sort.

At first glance, everything seemed normal. After a few seconds, though, anyone would realize: none of the people in the room were moving. Not the librarian, who still had a stern expression on her round face, and not any of the high schoolers browsing the shelves. Weirdest of all, the printer that Noel, Kloe, and Arman were using had stopped inking mid-page. It was as if time itself had stopped. And it might very well have. Noel and Arman were speechless until Kloe spoke up.

"Uh, guys? That's not the worst of it."

"What do you mean?" Noel asked, sounding nervous.

"I thought I saw this before, and… well, see for yourself."

With shaking hands, Kloe brought up her iPad, which seemed to be glowing with a bright white light. It wobbled as she slowly turned it around. Facing them was a white screen. If it was for a class, and their teacher had shown it to them, the three would have thought it boring. But, now, it looked quite sinister as the text on it read:

𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗...

𝟿𝟿%

Furthermore, Kloe gasped and pointed at Noel's then Arman's backpack. Noel turned to see that it too was glowing with the white light. Pulling it open, she reached a hand in and pulled out her iPad. Arman had done the same but slower, and now both opened their glowing device's keyboard cases and gawked at their own screens, for they both displayed the same message as Kloe's. For the first time, Noel was impressed and curious at the same time.

"Wha?" Arman blabbed, still not functioning fully.

"Well, it seems like some sort of transportation is on its way, and it's going to take us somewhere," Noel concluded reasonably, rotating her iPad to inspect it. "I can't wait to find out where. Whoever engineered this is simply genius."

Just then, all three screens changed, to show something that made Noel raise an apprehensive brow, making sure her backpack and tennis racquet were still with her, Kloe's eyes widen as she wondered what would happen next, and Arman gurgle, still trying to speak.

"Oh no," Kloe said, then, "Loophole?"

For the words now were:

𝙻𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎. 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍.

𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎.

Finally, Arman regained his voice. "What the he–!"

Suddenly, what looked like a supernova exploded from all three iPads, and the white expanded until it was all that the seventh graders could see. For a few moments, the three fought what seemed like empty space, not knowing what had just occurred. Then everything went black, and they all fell into nothingness.


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Author's Note: I'm going to make the chapters shorter than the prologue so that I can post more often. Yay! My first favorite! Thanks so much! So, read, review, suggest some stuff, and enjoy.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters._

_Though I do own myself... if that means something._

* * *

Chapter One-

**Arrival**

**Arman**

Arman blamed Noel. He had every right to.

So first, he had gotten this very strange email that lead him to "The Prince of Tennis" chapter two. Then, he had 'coincidentally' bumped into Noel at the library with Kloe, where all three had supposedly received the same email. Of course, Noel was the one who sent it. He just knew it. And finally, there was the whole weird loading thing and then they all lost consciousness.

Everything lead to Noel. "The Prince of Tennis" email, the library, and the iPad thing. Well, not the iPad thing, but as soon as Arman could spend some time on it, he was sure that he would find a way how that connected to her. Plus, Kloe acted with normal levels of fear while Noel was intrigued and even excited. That definitely was not normal. At least, to Arman's standards, and his were pretty high. He really hated Noel right now.

So now where were they? Everything was still black, and Arman felt all weird; his body felt like it was floating in space and his mind was cloudy. Now that he thought about it, he actually had a small headache. Plus, he had not eaten anything since snack, and he was pretty sure that his blood sugar was low. It was lunch when he was at the library, but he did not have a chance to eat anything yet because he was still printing. Maybe he had been dreaming the whole thing that happened in the library and he was passed out on the floor of the French classroom or something from lack of food. Was that a diabetic thing? He was not sure.

Arman tested moving his fingers but found that he could not. In fact, he did not have control of his own body. His nerves felt nothing. The lids of his eyes felt glued shut and he was forced to stay in the blackness. Arman began to panic, and it was then that he felt an impact and solid ground.

**Kloe**

"Ugh…"

There was a dull throbbing in Kloe's head as she kept her eyes shut for a few more moments. She felt a hard surface underneath her and was sure that it was paved stone, probably the ground outside of the library. Every muscle felt like it had been stretched and compressed in half a second, and she relaxed a little longer to let the strain fade. For another minute, she lay there, struggling to recall what had happened. Something about a manga and her iPad. _Oh._ Kloe's blue-grey eyes snapped open and she sat up a little too fast. Her head swam at the sudden movement and she had to close her eyes again to counteract the dizziness.

"Come on. Up up, guys."

Someone pulled on Kloe's arm and lifted her to her feet. Dreading it, she slowly cracked open each eyelid and found herself face to face with familiar but different brown eyes that were bright with… excitement? It was Noel, and even though she had never looked happier, she looked different. Trying to assess what made Kloe think that, she viewed Noel's swinging her arms and tiny jumps. Her cheeks were flushed as she hugged her familiar black uniform-like coat in excitement. Wait. Uniform?

Yep. That was definitely it. Instead of the sports clothes that she had been wearing in the library, Noel had on a black coat with buttons and a high, circular collar that covered her neck. The pants were in the same color and instead of a backpack, she now had a navy blue tennis bag that hung from her shoulder by a satchel. On her left wrist was a simple watch with a leather strap. How had her attire changed? Kloe shivered as a slight breeze came and ruffled her skirt. And since when did she have a short green skirt?!

Kloe looked down in horror to see tall white socks and a short green jacket with an embarrassingly enormous pink bow tying it together. After staring at it in shock for a minute, she focused back on Noel, in her head complaining about why she got less girly clothes, especially without a huge bow on them. Noel grinned even wider than she had been when Kloe stuttered a question about where they were. "Look for yourself" was all she said.

Obeying, Kloe allowed her eyes to roam around their surroundings. She, Noel, and Arman, (who was still lying on the pavement with clothes that looked like Noel's), were on the outside of a short brick wall. Behind them was a road, but what lay in front of them was what made Kloe gawk. Only a little ways away from them, the four-foot wall opened into a sort of gateway. Past it was an expanse, and farther off loomed a building. Even though it definitely was not a skyscraper, it seemed to tower over the young people who walked around on the paved courtyard under it, all of the girls wearing the same uniform as Kloe and all of the boys wearing ones that looked like Noel and Arman's. But Noel was a girl, so why did she get that uniform?

Now, Kloe's gaze found one of a large metal plaque on the wall in front of them. It took a while to read, which was surprising because Kloe was a reader. She would spend hours finishing books even when she had homework and prided herself on her reading abilities. So it was a total surprise when she had to stare at the text on it, which at first looked like weird swirls and dashes. Finally, after many awkward seconds, the text wobbled and changed into something that looked like it said SEISHUN ACADEMY. What a weird name, but Kloe now recognized their location.

Kloe turned back to Noel and asked, a bit confused when it took a lot of effort, "We're at, uh, Suhiyshun Academy?" Even though she had read the first twenty-four chapters of the manga, she did not know how to pronounce the name.

"I think you meant to call it say-shun academy," Noel corrected her kindly, "And this is a school for seventh graders to ninth graders, but here, it's called first years to third years."

"Yeah, I read the first twenty-four chapters of "The Prince of Tennis". But I wonder how we got here and what chapter we are in right now."

"At least you read it. Arman probably just deleted the email. I've been trying to get him to read it, but he refuses."

Noel made a face and Kloe giggled, "That's Arman alright." Noel turned back to face the school with a wistful expression on her face.

"By the looks of it, we're probably in chapter two or above. I can't specify any further unless we find the main characters in the plot line." She checked the watch on her wrist. "But what I do know is that classes will start in ten minutes, and we should probably get to classroom 1-2, which is on the second floor of the main building."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I've seen it over a hundred times," Noel said simply. "And I love this place more than anyone else."

Just as Kloe was about to ask what she meant, a loud groan made both of them turn to see Arman regain consciousness. Looking at him, Kloe realized that the clothing was not what made him and Noel look different. It was something else, but Kloe could not quite place it. Arman slowly sat upright and rubbed his eyes for a bit before mumbling, "Can I have some food? And did my math pages finish printing? Why does it feel like I just drank thirteen gallons of water in ten minutes?"

"I'm sorry to say this, my friend, but we're not in the library anymore," Noel informed him with a hint of a tease in her voice.

Immediately, Arman jumped to his feet and he looked around wildly, whipping is head side to side. "Huh? Where are we? What happened to Shasta Glen? Why am I wearing a long sleeve and why does Kloe have that ridiculous outfit?"

The last comment made Kloe's cheeks redden in embarrassment. After saying that, though, Arman put a fist to his mouth, suddenly looking quite green. Kloe could relate. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

"One sec," he managed.

"I'll explain after school is over, where we all can talk privately," Noel told both of her friends before Kloe could make a retort. "But right now, you just have to follow my lead. Ok?"

Understanding, Kloe nodded. Now was not the time to talk. If anyone else heard them, either they would assume they were insane, or something worse. Also, who knew if they were safe in this strange place? Anyone could be a friend, but anyone could also be an enemy. That much was clear. But Arman looked like he was going to argue, and Kloe kept him quiet by elbowing him in the side. He gave a yelp and a glare but stayed silent. Noel nodded approvingly at Kloe and she, smirking slightly, nodded back. Meanwhile, Arman looked vexed. The girls were conspiring against him.

"Alright, then," Noel said. "Follow me."

She turned and lead them through the Seishun Academy entrance into a place that was the same as the world they knew yet completely different.


	3. Chapter 2: Why Can't It Be One Piece?

**Author's Note: Thank you to the person who favorited this story" It really means a lot! If you read this, please review to tell me how I'm doing. I'm really grateful to any opinions that you give. Chapter Two. Enjoy!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis any of its characters._

* * *

Chapter Two-

"**Why can't it be One Piece?"**

**Noel**

Noel was buzzing with excitement. No, that was an understatement. That did not describe even a tenth of what she was feeling. This was her dream come true. And she did not even need to sacrifice an arm! She had awoken before Kloe and Arman, a bit dazed and disoriented. But when she had read the Seishun Academy sign, her senses immediately returned and her heartbeat started pounding in her ears. This was the same Seishun Academy from "The Prince of Tennis"! She could not believe what she was seeing, and so then she began to suspect that everything was a trick pulled off by someone, probably Arman for payback about her constant nagging to watch different anime. But the more she thought about it, the more impossible it seemed because Arman would never go to such heights as recreating a fictional place with hundreds of people needing to assume fictional roles. Not only was it a lot of money, but Arman would have to have seen the layout of Seishun Academy, which was in the very manga he was trying to avoid.

But how did they all get here, then? It should not have been possible. Teleporting into a fictional universe should not be possible. Unless… the universe itself was not fictional. Noel has recently read a theory about wormholes existing inside of planets, but she had dismissed it as possible but not probable. Now, it seemed that the theory could very well be true. Not only that, but a wormhole could be man-made with technology. Even when only thinking that Noel dreaded the possibility of different countries finding out and racing to recreate that kind of technology. Instead of violent wars, they could wipe entire countries off the face of the Earth. Literally. Countries could be teleported into another universe. What it meant if it was true that the iPads had created a wormhole…

No no no. Noel shook her head. She could not think about that now or her brain would explode from an overload of information. Her number one fictional universe existed, teleportation was real, wormholes could be created from technology, and more. That had blown her mind already, but out of the several theories and laws of the earth that had been broken in the past hour, teleporting was the most perplexing one. Especially why it was this particular universe. "The Prince of Tennis". This string of events played out exactly how Noel's deepest wish was composed, but she wondered how her two companions were taking the whole ordeal.

Oh, right. She had not been thinking about Kloe and Arman at all. Considerate was not a word to describe the previous events: Noel had woken up, acted excited, and told the two others to follow her into a strange place that, for all they knew, held a serial killer. Well, Kloe knew that most people here were kind if she really had read twenty-four chapters. So the only truly clueless one was Arman. Noel was tempted to leave him in the dark, considering how many times he had dissed "The Prince of Tennis", but he might change the storyline completely if she did not make any rules. There might be some things that Kloe still did not know, as she only read the manga and did not watch the anime. Overall, giving the two an overview was the best option.

Noel planned what she was going to say until she, Kloe, and Arman arrived at the entrance of Seishun Academy. Motioning for them to stop, she turned and gave them a serious look.

"Okay, now listen up. I'm gonna give you guys an overview of what's going on, instructions, and put down some ground rules. You better listen closely, alright?"

Seeing that she was not in the mood for a debate, Kloe and Arman nodded.

"Good. We are in the middle school Seishun Gakuen, also nicknamed Seigaku. This school is from first to third years, and as I have told Kloe, seventh to ninth graders. Now, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that what is going on now follows the plot of chapter thirty-four in "The Prince of Tennis", or episode twenty-one, because that is what we were all sent in that mystery email."

"The Prince of Tennis?" Arman cut in incredulously. "You're expecting me to believe we're in an anime?"

"It's true," affirmed Kloe, "I've read the first twenty-four chapters, and this looks exactly like Seishun Academy."

"Also, I wasn't sent episode twenty-one," Arman added.

"Did you click the second link?" Noel asked dryly.

No, apparently Arman did not because he dragged his hands down his face, pulling down the skin under his eyes in exasperation. "Why couldn't it have been "One Piece"?"

Sending him a glare that could probably kill a small animal, Noel cleared her throat. "Anyways, don't you dare mess up the storyline or I will personally see that you two never escape from me once we exit this anime. So don't mention anything along the lines of this being a fictional world or this being a book. Got it?"

Here, the two nodded, seeing the level stare that made shivers go down their spines.

"My theory is that we have been planted into Seigaku as first-year students who are coming in somewhat into the first trimester. Seeing as we already are wearing uniforms, it is safe to say that we have already registered but we still need to retrieve our class schedules from the administrative office, probably to also get our shoes. I will lead you there and talk for you both because I know some Japanese from nerdy research. Hopefully, we can get by as freshmen in Seigaku without being suspected of not being who we say we are. But first, let me tell the Japanese versions of your names. They sound similar to the English ones but are less out of place. Kloe, your name in Japanese is Kuroe. Yours and Arman's sounds closer than mine."

"Kuroe," Kloe repeated. "Got it."

Noel smiled, "Your pronunciation is spot on." Addressing Arman, she said, "The most similar Japanese version of your name is Aruman. It translates to Arman with only one A, but it's the same name nevertheless."

The boy said an 'ok' but did not repeat the name until Noel glared daggers at him. After a few seconds of glaring back, he gave up. "Aruman," he sighed, feeling a bit immature at the attempt.

"You said it right. My name is pronounced Noeru. Now we go to the administrative office. Sound good?"

Knowing that they did not really have a choice, Kloe and Arman nodded once more. Then with a satisfied look, Noel motioned for them to follow her.

**Arman**

After asking if everything sounded good, which Arman (to himself) thought it did not, Noel swiveled around to walk to what was probably the administrative office. Just as she began her first step, Arman raised his hand, tentatively because he wanted none of her wrath. Plus, she seemed unusually serious, so he knew now was not the time to mess with her. Of course, Noel could not see him, and when he realized this, he called, "Um, Noel?"

"Don't know who you're talking to," Noel responded, still walking away.

He was dumbstruck. "Wait, what?"

"Remember, she's Noeru," Kloe reminded him.

"Ah, well," Arman stalled, thinking that the whole thing was quite idiotic.

He wondered how Kloe could take being in a different place so well. It felt really weird. The strangest thing was that Noel seemed to move about with ease while Arman felt like someone was ramming hammers around his skull and stomach. Those did not feel like a normal stomach ache and headache because he had felt them before and they were nowhere near the thumping that he was experiencing. It was like his body knew that he did not belong in that place called Seigaku.

Now that he was thinking about the whole ordeal, where, exactly, were they? Noel had never told them the exact place. What was with speaking Japanese? Were they in Japan? That much was what Arman guessed because they were in a Japanese anime, but he did not know what to think. How had he, Kloe, and Noel been magically teleported to Japan within what seemed like mere minutes? And why did the name Seigaku sound so familiar? There were too many unanswered questions, and when Arman got the chance, he would not hesitate to hurl as many as he wanted at Noel. She seemed to have all of the answers. What was she not telling him? Maybe she had told Kloe while he was still unconscious. He would question Kloe later because right now, he needed to ask Noel something. Gritting his teeth to brace himself for the upcoming foolishness, he opened his mouth once more, faking coughs to convey how unwilling he was.

"*_cough_* Er… *_cough_* Noeru? *_cough_ _cough_*"

Noel whipped around with a too wide smile that could wrap around the earth twice. "Oh hello, Aruman," she said brightly, "Were you calling for me? Sorry, I couldn't tell."

"Oh, _glad_ you could hear me."

"Me too. So what did you want to say?" asked Noel, seemingly oblivious to Arman's sarcasm.

Rolling his eyes, he inquired, "What are we trying to hide from other people? And why do you need to speak Japanese?"

"We don't want them to know that we're from America."

The answer was so simple and completely unexpected that Arman did not process that for a few seconds. When he finally understood, he blinked, still feeling like he did not. Replying, Arman could not quite keep all of the dryness out of his voice.

"Why, exactly, don't we want anyone to know who we are?"

This time, Kloe answered, glaring slightly, "Because that's a step closer to people finding out that we're from an entirely different universe."

"And why is that bad?"

Now both of the girls glared at Arman. He gulped.

"I got it, I got it," he said quickly, "That's enough questions for now. Got it."

Both still held the same expression at Arman, which made him unnerved. He suspected they enjoyed it and rolled his eyes. Internally, of course. If it were externally, Kloe and Noel would take no time to murder him and throw his body in a dumpster. Speaking of them, they simultaneously huffed, turned on their heels, and marched away, most likely expecting him to come as well. Sheesh. All he did was ask an innocent few questions. They were perfectly reasonable ones, too. There was nowhere else to go, and even if there was, Arman had no idea how to get there. Now he sort of wished he had read a little of "The Prince of Tennis", just enough to know his way around the place. But the present him had not. Kloe and Noel were getting far away. Soon, Arman would lose them and then he would have to wander around the school without knowing any Japanese. The was no other option. Sighing, he began to follow them with reluctant steps.

_Why can't it be "One Piece"?_ he thought for the second time that day. That would probably not be his last time thinking it, either.


	4. Chapter 3: Subtitles

**Author's Note: Whew! The next chapter is out. As the author, I BEG someone to please review and tell me how I'm doing! Flames are welcome! So please! And yes, we finally (albeit indirectly) meet a Prince of Tennis character!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters._

* * *

Chapter Three-

**Subtitles**

**Kloe **

"Um, _sumimasen, sensei_," Noel said to the secretary who sat behind a wooden counter. "_Watashitachi wa koko de shin'nyūseidesu. Watashitachi wa watashitachi no busshi o te ni ireru koto ga dekimasu ka_?"

She had lead Kloe and Arman into the administrative building and was now talking to the adult. Out of the twenty-one words Noel had just said, Kloe only knew what one of them meant: sensei, which translated to 'teacher'. Noel was probably calling the teacher that because she did not know her name. Kloe seriously wondered how Noel knew that much Japanese. Even though she had given the explanation of being extremely nerdy about anime by learning some of the language, that still did not quite shed light on how she had learned _that much_. "I know some Japanese". _Some_. Yeah, right.

Even though Noel had been overly modest when measuring her Japanese speaking, Kloe still was impressed. Anyone who taught themselves to be able to carry out conversation because of a manga was not just a super fan; they were dedicated, too. That, Kloe could understand. There were several books that she had more than loved, ending up being a bit obsessed with them. For a person who loved fiction, that was natural. Her attention back on the present, Kloe focused on the secretary to listen to her response. When the secretary spoke, Kloe could barely stop her mouth from dropping open in surprise.

Because she could _see_ what the secretary was saying. In English words. Even though the secretary was speaking Japanese. She could even slightly hear an underlying layer of English beneath the sentences. WHAT?! It was like… Then the thought struck her. It was like in Japanese anime when there were English subtitles. But how could there be subtitles when they were in the book form of the anime? Wait. Kloe just realized that they had been sent the link to the anime as well. It was quite funny, actually. Kloe was living in an anime. Plus, she saw the look on Noel and Arman's faces as they saw the subtitles, too. But why would Noel need to see them? She could understand Japanese.

Curious, Kloe leaned over to her and whispered, "Do you see the subtitles, too?"

"What do you mean? The secretary is speaking Japanese that I understand," Noel murmured.

Japanese? Of course, she was. At the secretary's curious glance, Kloe shot back in place. She had heard a slight layer of English underneath… but Noel herself saw no subtitles? A theory was beginning to form, and Kloe decided that she, Noel, and Arman would discuss it later when they got the chance. Now the secretary stood back and walked into the room behind the counter. Walking back with three red paper bags in her arms, she came to the counter. The secretary handed Noel, Kloe, then Arman each a bag and explained that it had all of the items they needed. Kloe examined the contents of her bag. In clear plastic packaging rested white shoes with red tips that were her exact size and a slip with a number on it. There was also a piece of paper with her class schedule printed onto it. Even on the paper could Kloe see the English subtitles. Noel would probably explain what the shoes were once they exited the administrative office.

"_Arigatōgozaimashita_," Noel thanked, and the trio left the building. Outside, Noel said, "We're going to go to the shoe lockers now. We will talk about the subtitles and English dub during lunch. For now, just follow my lead and act like students. Now, what're your first periods?"

Kloe consulted her schedule, reading the mysterious English subtitles, "I've got English first."

"Same," said Arman, looking up from his. "At least, I think so."

Kloe checked his planner, "Yep."

"Huh, me too," commented Noel. "And…"

What happened next was something neither Kloe or Arman could describe to anyone else, even if they tried. The best they could do was this: at one moment, Noel was acting normally, and at the next, it was as if someone had galvanized her with an electric shock. Excitement washed over her features she seemed to have energy to spare and more. She began to dance in place as a majorly confused Kloe and probably majorly confused Arman watched.

Kloe voiced the thoughts that she and Arman were thinking, "Um, are you ok?"

"Oh yeah!" Noel exclaimed, "It's just…"

"Just…" Arman prompted when she stopped and began grinning from ear to ear.

"We're going to meet Ryoma Echizen! He has English first period, too!"

"Ryoma what now?"

"Echizen, Ryoma: twelve-year-old seventh grader and freshman at Seigaku. He is a singles player on the Seigaku tennis team, having won four national titles in the United States. His height is one hundred fifty-one centimeters and weighs fifty-two kilograms."

Slightly creeped out, Kloe edged away from Noel. She knew Ryoma Echizen's height and weight? Where did she find that information? Now Kloe realized just how much of a fan of the Prince of Tennis she was. Underneath the layer of weirdness, Noel was really dedicated to her favorite anime. Even though Kloe was not the most pleased to be sucked into the different world, she thought that out of herself, Noel, and Arman, Noel was the one that actually deserved to be there. No matter how annoyed or ungrateful Kloe and Arman were, they still should not be in the world.

"His birthday is December twenty-fourth and his horoscope is a Capricorn. Blood Type O, eyesight one point five in both eyes, fluent in English. His father is the tennis samurai, Nanjiro Echizen. His tennis techniques are–"

"Alright, alright," Kloe interjected before Noel could make them insane with her rambling. Quickly, to change the subject, she asked, "What are we learning in English?"

Immediately, Arman fixed a dry gaze at her. "What do you think?" he asked sarcastically, "Gosh, I don't know… ENGLISH, maybe?"

"Well, I think what Kloe meant was, 'How much do we pretend to know?'."

"Why do we need to pretend?"

"Well, as we are pretending to have lived in Japan…"

Understanding what she meant, Kloe asserted, "We don't want to draw any more attention to ourselves than needed. And, Noel, can you show us to the shoe lockers?"

"Of course!"

With that, Noel promptly went on, towards the main building. Kloe and Arman followed her. Eventually, they reached a glass door and Noel told Arman to go inside. He was to go to the shoe locker of the number on the slip in his plastic shoe bag and put in the shoes he currently wore. Then he would wear the ones in his plastic bag. Being his friend, Kloe could tell that he thought the Japanese custom ridiculous but was too afraid to say so for fear of being scolded.

After ensuring that Arman knew to leave through the east door then take two lefts, a right, a left, the three rights, Noel lead Kloe to the girls' shoe lockers. After exchanging their shoes, they went and met up with Arman, who had (miraculously, to Kloe) remembered the way to the freshmen hall, and the three walked to Classroom 1-2 together. During that period, Kloe noticed that other girls were giving Noel strange looks because she was wearing the boys' uniform even though she was a girl. Seemingly oblivious to the attention, (or at least, not caring), Noel waved genially at them.

Finally, it was time to start. All students but Noel sat at a desk, which had a paper slip with their name on it. Noel later explained that they had the slips for the first few weeks so that they would become accustomed to the seating arrangement. Up front at the blackboard, she was currently talking to the English teacher, presumably for further data later on. Finding her seat, Kloe discovered that her spot was in the back left corner of the classroom, which was next to the window. Arman's was to the right of hers. And to the right of a bluish black-haired boy whom Noel kept sneaking excited glances at, was where Noel would be. Practically sighing in relief, Kloe sank into her designated desk; they were all in the same row! What luck. Kloe and Arman were next to each other, and Noel was only two seats away. Hopefully, they could pass notes when needed and not get caught.

Noel, finished with her conversation, began was walking to her desk. Noticing Kloe looking at her, Noel sent an encouraging grin. The action distracted her momentarily so that she was not watching her steps. The boy at her neighboring desk took that moment to yawn, extending his arms and legs out just at the exact moment that Noel walked by him. Consequently, she tripped over one of his outstretched legs. Holding her breath, Kloe watched as she stumbled for a moment and accidentally knocked a book off of another student's desk.

Instead of standing upright, which Kloe assumed she would, an alarmed look crossed Noel's face. Out of reflex, (Kloe supposed), Noel reached out and caught the book, but it caused her to fall towards the floor with an arm outstretched to brace herself. She landed on her knees, her left hand grasping the book, and right hand on the ground.

* * *

_Arigatōgozaimashita: thank you very much_


	5. Chapter 4: Discussion

**Author's Note: There you go! And now we call Ryoma by name, so, cool! PLEASE review. I'm on my knees right now.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters._

* * *

**NOTICE!: I know that Seigaku is not the only favorite school, so I now have a poll on my profile so you can vote on what other schools you'd like to see! If you do not have an account, just leave the school name in a review!**

_**ALSO: When Noel, Arman, or Kloe speak in Japanese, it is IN BOLD. The characters from Prince of Tennis are always speaking Japanese unless indicated.**_

* * *

Chapter Four-

**Discussion**

**Kloe (continued)**

The boy who had tripped her was staring, surprised, at her. Snapping out of his astonishment, he stood and went over to her and said, "_Ne_."

What Kloe read was something along the lines of 'hey'. Noel slowly pushed herself upright into a sitting position, and still on the red-brown tile, slipped the book on its gaping owner's desk, who mumbled what Kloe assumed was a word of thanks. Noel met the gaze of the boy's.

"Sorry about that," he apologized airily, (Kloe was reading the subtitles that appeared in thin air) and held out a hand to help her up.

Noel's reached out to take it as she thanked him. It was in Japanese, of course, but now that Kloe knew to look for them, could read the English subtitles. "**Thank you, Echizen-kun.**"

"Ryoma-kun will do just fine. And… I don't think I've ever seen you before. How do you know my name?" he questioned, making Noel's hand falter.

A look of momentary panic flashed across her features before she excused to the boy that Kloe figured was the Ryoma she had read of for twenty-four chapters. He stuck his hands in his pockets.

"**Um, well… It's on your desk!**" Noel blurted.

"Ah, that's right."

Ryoma's face stayed the normal neutral, but Kloe could have almost sworn it held a hint of doubt. He began to turn toward his desk, then paused for a moment. Turning back around, he bent down, holding out his left hand to help Noel up. Grateful, she accepted the offer, allowing Ryoma to pull her to her feet. She moved away to her desk, but could not because the freshman was still holding onto her hand. A surprised brow was lifted by Noel and she had a funny expression that Kloe had ever seen her wear. From afar, Kloe realized that Ryoma was inspecting Noel's hand. He rotated their clasped hands, raising an eyebrow.

"You have strong hands and some calluses on your palms," he noted bluntly, then continued to ask after her face became even more and obviously curious, "Do you play a sport?" His eyes glinted with something only close companions would recognize as interest. "Tennis, perhaps?"

"**Well, Ryoma-kun,**" Noel yanked her hand away and quickly sat down at her designated desk. From that distance, she sent him a smirk, "**You'll find that out, I suppose.**"

Even as Noel did not look at him, Kloe could see Ryoma's green stare piercing Noel's side. Kloe was still aware of his piqued curiosity and now drumming fingers. But most of all, Kloe saw that Noel was unaware of every single student in the class looking at her. The others did not bother Kloe, but after meeting Ryoma, she realized that he unnerved her. She had a strong feeling that he knew something that she did not. Nevertheless, Kloe carefully observed the boy who she had read about for twenty-four chapters, making sure he did not catch her watchful gaze. It was hard to not be caught because he sat near her, but somehow, she managed.

**Noel**

"Um… What will we learn in Mathematics?" asked Arman.

It was lunch in Seishun Gakuen, and he, Kloe, and Noel were walking to a secluded area outside where they could talk in private about the crazy events that had occurred. Knowing her way around, Noel lead them towards a bench near the side of the building. Shaded by some trees behind it, it sat at the edge of a sidewalk. Noel was aware that Arman and Kloe probably thought she was addicted to the Prince of Tennis as well as obsessed over it. Still, even though the question was probably to fill the silence, Noel decided to answer it. It might give Arman and Kloe some additional information that could come in handy in the future. And it would make things less awkward.

"Since we go to Shasta Glen, which has an accelerated math program, we already know what the freshmen in Seigaku are currently learning: negative numbers. They will later start on linear equations."

Arman, who had been listening with only one ear, now turned to face her head on. "Negative numbers!" he spluttered, "We learned about that at the beginning of _last year_."

Noel raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Well… I already know what a negative number is! You know what? I'll do it ten better. I know how to graph parabolas."

"Oh? Well, you'll have to learn it again. Just don't make it obvious that you're bored. You can be smart but not arrogant."

After that, they all sat on the bench and Kloe opened her mouth to blurt something that Noel was sure had probably been nagging her for a long time, "So, when people speak in Japanese and you read the writing, do you guys see the subtitles and hear the really quiet English translation?"

"I only see subtitles. You hear English?" said Arman. Then he groaned, and at their concerned looks, flashed Kloe and Noel a weak smile, "I've got a headache."

"It'll get better. Drink lots of water." Kloe pursed her lips. "And yes, I hear a little English underneath the Japanese when people talk. What about you, Noel?"

Intrigued, she replied, "I don't see any subtitles. But I have to admit, I don't normally know _that_ much Japanese. It was like my brain said it on its own. Plus, I can read and understand all of the Japanese, even though I don't think I could possibly have before."

"Could it be… that the better you know the anime, the better you understand the Japanese or the more it is translated?" Kloe mused. At Noel and Arman's confused looks, she quickly explained, "Like, Noel can fluently speak and read because she's probably read every chapter and watched every episode of "The Prince of Tennis". That means, you, Arman, have never? But if so, why do you see subtitles?"

"Well," he admitted sheepishly, as Noel sent him a glare, "I told Noel I would watch the first two episodes because she helped me with something in science class, but I never really got around to it. I mean, I read the synopsis and all, so I know what it's about from that and also from what Noel told me. Plus, I read one of her fan fictions."

Seriously? He had promised to watch the first two episodes, and it had already been a month. Noel face-palmed. And after all those times she dealt with his constant pokes to her arm when he needed to know what a pistil was. Arman offered her an apologetic glance and she shook her head wryly. It was no surprise. There was always some form of excuse or another and Noel always knew he would never get to it. He was a procrastinator when it came to "The Prince of Tennis".

"I guess you're right," Noel told Kloe, "I wonder what else is different here."

Arman coughed. "Could how well we know the anime affect how we feel here?"

"What do you mean?"

"For instance, I didn't have it before, but ever since I got here, I've had a huge head and stomach ache. What about you, Kloe?"

"Just a tiny headache."

"So it's that, too," Noel murmured. "And maybe…"

She trailed off. The incident with Ryoma beforehand had sparked something in her memory as well as Arman's mention of fan fictions. The events were strangely familiar and gave her a lingering feeling of deja vu. What if… no. She shook the thought away as Kloe queried, "Maybe what?"

"Oh, it's nothing." _Probably nothing_. "So, any other theories?"

"Well," Arman raised his hand, "I've got another question. Do people hear our English in Japanese? To restate, if we can read their subtitles and understand them, can they understand us?"

To be frank, Noel was surprised that he had come up with such a question that she and Kloe did not think of. She took a moment to ponder it. Now that she thought about it, was she the only one who could communicate with the Japanese students and teachers? She had been talking to the math teacher in Japanese, but to her, it was as easy as English. If the capabilities of understanding Japanese relied on how well one knew the anime, then maybe speaking did, too. Noel decided to test a theory. There was no drawback from it and the results would be quite interesting. So, the next thing she uttered was not in English but in Japanese.

"**Can you guys understand me right now?**"

"**Of course. You're speaking English,**" responded Kloe.

"**No, she isn't,**" Arman suddenly said, "**She's speaking Japanese.**"

The realization hit both at the same time and they voiced in unison, "**And so are we…**"

It had worked. Noel smiled triumphantly. They may not have known the anime all too well, but they had lived in it for about four hours so far. Then there was the hundred other Japanese anime episodes they had watched and the thousand chapters of manga that were read. Their knowledge of Japanese anime stretched way beyond that of an average person, so because they knew so many animes, they could easily become adjusted to another. So all they needed was a little jumpstart in their engines to speak fluent Japanese. It was the perfect timing, too. Kloe and Arman needed to know Japanese because sooner or later, the teachers at Seigaku would wonder why they would never talk.


	6. Chapter 5: Prove What, Exactly?

**Author's Note: Chapter 5 is finally up! It took time to stop procrastinating, but we're here. This is the longest chapter yet. From here on out, I'm going to try to have longer chapters. **

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Prince of Tennis or any of its characters._

* * *

**NOTICE!: I know that Seigaku is not the only favorite school so I now have a poll on my profile so you can vote on what other schools you'd like to see! If you do not have an account, just leave the school name in a review!**

_**ALSO: When Noel, Arman, or Kloe speak in Japanese, it is IN BOLD. The characters from Prince of Tennis are always speaking Japanese unless indicated.**_

* * *

Chapter Four-

**Prove What, Exactly?**

Now that Arman could actually speak Japanese, he had the last verification that he needed in order to go against Noel's authority. Most likely, Arman would win the argument that would commence because he had a year of experience in debate over her. As long as Noel did not play the "I know "The Prince of Tennis" better than you" card, that is. If she did, he had no response to that. And, because she was on the debate team with him, she probably had anticipated what was going to come next and was already planning what to say.

Well, here goes nothing, he thought, then slowly took a deep breath and closed his eyes to formulate his 'assertion'. After a few seconds, his eyes opened.

"Noel, I need to question your authority."

She turned to him with a look that confirmed his suspicions; she had known what was coming. "Go ahead."

"Why are we pretending to be from Japan? Even though you said that being transfer students from the United States would form curiosities, wouldn't having no records in Japan or any knowledge of the Japanese customs make us incredibly suspicious people? Lies arouse suspicion, suspicion gathers people trying to find out that lie, and that leads to detection. Our friends, and I am saying that we will make friends, will feel incredibly betrayed once they find out. And because you are a Prince of Tennis maniac, those friends will most likely be the main characters. Isn't that worse than just saying that we're from the U.S.?"

Said Prince of Tennis maniac gave a grudging smile. "Fair enough. If you wish, we will be transfer students." Then Kloe raised her hand, the other twirling a lock of orangey-brown hair.

"Um, can I just be my normal self? Like, if I know that stuff in math, I can act like I know it? 'Cuz maybe they'll let us be in a higher math class like at Head Royce if we take a placement test or something."

"I never said you couldn't," Noel responded, "As long as you're not like Ore-sama."

Arman frowned, "What's an Ore-sama?"

He felt a tap on his shoulder and heard Kloe say, "Prince of Tennis reference."

He nodded once. "Ah."

Noel gave them an appraising look. "So, that's settled?" Arman nodded, and he saw Kloe following suit. "Cool. I have no idea why I thought of such a horrible plan in the first place. Also, can we please watch the tennis practice today? I'm dying to see everyone!"

"Sure," Kloe answered. "I kind of am, too."

"Fine with me," Arman added, shrugging.

Actually, he, too, was slightly curious. After all, Arman had never been in an anime before, and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Either that, or he had hit his head a little too hard and was hallucinating. Still, he wanted to meet the rest of the main characters. Arman had just finished this thought when he heard the school bell ring. Lunch was over. The three friends shared a glance before they stood, grabbed their belongings, and began to make their way back inside Seigaku.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"

Arman jumped two feet into the air. "Noel! What in the world are you doing?" he yelped.

"Sorry," Noel apologized, smiling sheepishly. "I've always wanted to try that. It's in all of the manga."

"You know, so have I," Kloe grinned.

They were on their way back to the shoe cubicles. After walking a little longer, Arman saw a folded piece of paper flutter out of Noel's pocket.

"Hey guys, wait," he said, bending down to retrieve whatever it was.

When he unfolded it and what was doodled on there, his eyes widened. There was an incredibly well drawn image of what looked like the tennis players on the cover of "The Prince of Tennis" anime. Arman had only seen it once, but Noel had shown him, (and gushed about them,) several images of the characters while in classes at school. The art looked alright, he supposed, but this drawing was just INCREDIBLE. It was detailed yet simple and full of action yet still.

"Is this yours, Noel?" he inquired in disbelief. "I've never seen you draw like this before. I mean, your normal drawings are trash."

"That's just cold," Kloe commented, sending him a reproving look as Noel quickly snatched it out of his hand. "But yeah, that drawing is awesome."

"It's a theory," she answered vaguely.

That had not answered his question at all. "Um, what?"

"I'll tell you both later."

Noel gave them both an apologetic glance as they reached the shoe cubicles. Arman uttered a sarcastic farewell because his was a bit away from theirs. He still wanted to know how Noel had improved her drawing skills in such a short time, (he had only seen one a few days ago) but his attention was caught by someone else. Interestingly enough, the boy who had questioned Noel in English class had a cubicle very close to Arman's. However, he was now wearing a white collared shirt with blue and sides as well as black tennis shorts. Noticing the navy blue tennis bag slung over his shoulder, Arman connected the dots from seeing the cover of "The Prince of Tennis" and deduced that this boy must be the main character.

"Hey, you're that Ryoma Echizen guy, right?" Arman said to the boy. There was a chance that Noel might kill him if she found out that he was talking to Ryoma, much less in such an upfront manner. The boy he had addressed turned to him with a frown.

"Why are you speaking English?" he asked slowly in a very accented version of the language Arman had used.

Remembering, Arman spoke the next sentences in Japanese. Now, if Noel found out, she was definitely going to kill him. "**Oh, excuse me. The other transfer students and I are from America, so we sometimes accidentally speak English on accident.**"

"You three are siblings?" Ryoma wondered doubtfully.

"**Well, relatives. Of some sort. Second cousins and the like,**" Arman fibbed. "**Also, are you going to tennis practice?**"

The short boy pointed to his tennis bag as if the answer was obvious, (which it was) then donned a white FILA cap and began to turn away. Thinking hastily, Arman hypothesized that Noel might not know the way to the tennis courts. If so, then Ryoma was certainly going to practice. Arman decided to get on Noel's good side and called out after Ryoma.

"**Can you show my friends and I the way to the courts? We'd like to watch practice.**"

Ryoma faced Arman once again and sighed. He returned to Arman, who lead the way back to Noel and Kloe. Noel was right when she had informed him that one time during science class about how Ryoma, as aloof as he seemed, was actually a pretty good kid. The identical looks of surprise from Noel and Kloe made Arman smirk just slightly. They stared at Ryoma, whose hands were stuck in his short pockets as he waited. Kloe recovered first, remembering, unlike Arman, to use Japanese.

"**Echizen-kun. Nice to see you,**" she greeted.

Arman explained, "**He's going to lead us to the tennis courts.**"

Bowing, Noel seemed to search for something in the tennis bag that she now carried. "**Thank you very much!**" Currently, she withdrew a few coins from her bag. Was Noel going to pay him? At first, Arman thought she had made a big mistake by having US currency, but then he saw that the coins were yen. Maybe the U.S. money that she had in the real world had converted into Japanese yen. Arman filed that question for later as Noel added, "**I saw a vending machine during lunch. I'll pay for a drink if you'd like.**" Ah. Now he understood.

"Eh," Ryoma took the change from her outstretched hand and pocketed it. As he lead the way, the three friends followed.

Kloe

As she gawked at the tennis courts, with all of the characters she knew rallying on them, Kloe finally accepted the fact that this place was truly within the world of "The Prince of Tennis". And that fact made her life seem much more interesting. If "The Prince of Tennis" was real, then maybe "Black Butler" was, too, or "My Hero Academia". If so, the world would not seem so depressing anymore. Everything would be a-okay. Because of anime, everything was just grea– Kloe's mind-blown thoughts were interrupted by a large smashing noise. A ball rocketed against the fence in front of her, and she yelped in surprise.

"Are you alright?" Noel asked her.

"Yeah, I just was gawking in awe," Kloe replied sheepishly.

Arman rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, "Yeah, this tennis practice is amazing. I've never ever seen anything like it befor– OW!"

Noel shot him a satisfied smirk then proceeded to pretend to have not been guilty of stomping on his foot. "It is amazing. Just wait and see."

"Yeah, like anime tennis is more interesting than normal tennis."

Kloe watched silently as Noel defended her favorite anime and Arman tried to prove that any other anime was better. She watched the tennis practice for a few more seconds. Maybe she should give a comment that supported "The Prince of Tennis". It actually was not that boring of an anime that Arman claimed it to be; how could he even say that without watching the anime? Sighing, Kloe tuned back into the conversation.

A glint had come into Noel's eyes, and Kloe could tell that she had come up with something that was going to be highly amusing to her. Noel promised that she would return shortly, and made her way to the gate of the tennis courts, her tennis bag bumping as she walked. Kloe and Arman craned their necks to watch from where they were standing in their position under some trees. The Seigaku regulars were standing in a circle around older female coach in a magenta-colored jacket, cooling off and drinking from their water bottles. The coach, (Kloe knew her to be Coach Ryuzaki) looked like she was giving them tips on their tennis games. Kloe was slightly excited as she watched them; she recognized them from the manga! They were actual characters come to life! Speaking of which, they turned as the gate was open and Noel walked in.

"What in the world is she doing?" Arman murmured.

As her friend, Kloe believed that whatever Noel was getting into would not cause any trouble. However, she was slightly worried for the storyline. Would "The Prince of Tennis" be messed up?

Now, Noel was in the middle of the circle, bowing to Coach Ryuzaki and a spectacled boy whom Kloe though was probably Kunimitsu Tezuka, the tennis captain. Noel was talking in her bowed position, and all of the regulars' attention was directed at her. Ryoma appeared a tad interested himself, eyeing her over the rim of his Ponta can that he had bought with her money. While she was talking, Noel handed a slip of paper to Coach Ryuzaki that Kloe assumed had Noel's name on it; she had seen Noel writing it during one of their classes. Kloe wanted to listen to their conversation, so she gestured to Arman, and they both edged closer to the courts.

"**...and I promise that I will perform to the best of my ability,**" Noel was saying, "**Please give me a chance to prove myself to you!**"

Huh? What was Noel doing? And, how would she prove herself? Kloe had no time to consider any answers to her questions because now Arman signaled back to the tennis courts. Coach Ryuzaki glanced at Tezuka, and his stoic face remained unchanged as he gave her a nod. Facing Noel again, Coach Ryuzaki smiled.

"Let's see what you can do…" she paused to look down at the paper Noel had given her, "...Hondo-chan." The following inquiry was addressed to the rest of the regulars. "I think an eighteen point tiebreaker will show us what we need to see. Who would like to play her?"

There was a silence. The regulars looked at each other, hesitation on their faces. It was probably because they did not want to play (and crush, as they seemed to think,) a young first year girl. Finally, a brown-haired boy with a soft smile stepped forward.

"Sure," he volunteered good-naturedly. "I'd like to see how you play."

"Ok, Fuji." Coach Ryuzaki's expression was slightly pained as if she knew that Noel stood no chance against him.

Kloe almost gasped. It was the legendary Fuji from the manga! She almost laughed aloud, however, when Arman muttered, "The dude looks crushable enough, but what's with his closed eyes? Creepy much?"

Noel, meanwhile, looked surprised for a second, then adjusted her tennis bag's strap. She nodded with a determined glint in her eyes. "**I look forward to a good match!**"

Kloe groaned inwardly. She had seen Noel play before, and compared to everyone else in the grade, she was really good. But compared to a _fictional, magic-wielding tensai_, she stood no chance at all. How would she prove herself against the undefeated Syuusuke Fuji? Honestly, Kloe had no idea.


End file.
